Max Tow Sport vs Rubicon Ride Quality Question

[Smash615]

Looking to add a little lift to my 2022 Max Tow and am thinking about swapping for the Rubicon take-off springs and shocks. I Not wanting to lose the tow capacity, so I plan on adding Air Lift 1000 to compensate for the loss of the spring stiffness and keep the full tow capacity at 7750lbs.

What I am trying to understand is the differences in overall ride quality between the Rubicon vs the Max Tow. What should I expect in the overall on-road ride quality vs the Max Tow? I'm thinking that the softer springs and shocks in the Rubicon will make the JT a bit less bumpy and stiff, which would make the daily use on road driving more comfortable. Would love anyone's thoughts on what I would expect if I make the swap. or if I am missing something in my analysis.

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[Gvsukids]

I have a 22 Max Tow and am thinking about swapping for the Rubicon take-offs to gain a little lift. I Not wanting to lose the tow capacity, so I plan on adding Air Lift 1000 to compensate for the loss of the spring stiffness and keep the full tow capacity at 7750lbs.

What I am trying to understand is the differences in overall ride quality between the Rubicon vs the Max Tow. What should I expect in the overall on-road ride quality vs the Max Tow? I'm thinking that the softer springs and shocks in the Rubicon will make the JT a bit less bumpy and stiff, which would make the daily use on road driving more comfortable. Would love anyone's thoughts on what I would expect if I make the swap. or if I am missing something in my analysis.

Test drive a Rubicon. Lower tire pressure will dampen the bumps.

 

[ALT2870]

Do yourself a favor and do only the shocks. I've seen and said this in multiple places but it seems people say the Max Tow springs are some of the better ones in terms of ride balance. (Not to stiff or soft.) Heck, some say the shocks are also a good middle ground.

I do enough off roading when my second shock called it quits I just nabbed a set of Rubicon takeoffs (the newer ones). Softened up the ride a touch but still keeping the rest along with tow capacity if I ever needed it. This is what I would recommend.

 

[Mr._Bill]

I have a 22 Max Tow and am thinking about swapping for the Rubicon take-offs to gain a little lift. I Not wanting to lose the tow capacity, so I plan on adding Air Lift 1000 to compensate for the loss of the spring stiffness and keep the full tow capacity at 7750lbs.

What I am trying to understand is the differences in overall ride quality between the Rubicon vs the Max Tow. What should I expect in the overall on-road ride quality vs the Max Tow? I'm thinking that the softer springs and shocks in the Rubicon will make the JT a bit less bumpy and stiff, which would make the daily use on road driving more comfortable. Would love anyone's thoughts on what I would expect if I make the swap. or if I am missing something in my analysis.

If you change the springs, you lose the Tow Rating.

 

[Badunit]

My Rubicon drove like the bed was overloaded with a top heavy load, even when empty. It wallowed down the road with every road imperfection sending me in a different direction requiring a lot of corrections. Dips in the road that were handled fine by the front were not handled well by the rear, the rear would dip far deeper than the front. It felt very unbalanced. I tried Fox and Bilstein shocks but it didn't solve it (not surprisingly), though the Bilstein's were better and I still run them. Max tow rear coils were the solution for me. It is perfectly balanced now and not a stiff ride.

Oh, and I saw only a minimal difference in rear height with the change of coils. I forget how much, maybe 1/4 inch or so lower with the max tow coils. It might be in some other post I've made.

 

[Smash615]

Do yourself a favor and do only the shocks. I've seen and said this in multiple places but it seems people say the Max Tow springs are some of the better ones in terms of ride balance. (Not to stiff or soft.) Heck, some say the shocks are also a good middle ground.

I do enough off roading when my second shock called it quits I just nabbed a set of Rubicon takeoffs (the newer ones). Softened up the ride a touch but still keeping the rest along with tow capacity if I ever needed it. This is what I would recommend.

Unfortunately adding the shocks doesn't give me the increase in lift I am looking for. By adding the Air Lift 1000, I'm being told that the springs can be swapped to increase the lift and the airbags will maintain the tow capacity... Yes, I want my cake and eat it too and figured this could be a possible solution...

 

[ALT2870]

Unfortunately that's not how tow capacity works. All the airbags will do is help recover rear sag. Rubicon springs are rated for 7k. If you are okay with 750 less pounds of towing capacity then you are good. (Honestly not sure who actually gets up in that range anyway.)

Badunit also has a point, you are going to get minimal lift as well especially after settling if that is a primary objective. Might consider the two inch lift from Mopar? I believe that still allows 7k towing.

For absolute ride quality most agree the Mojave is the best but those takeoffs are very rare.

 

[Smash615]

Unfortunately that's not how tow capacity works. All the airbags will do is help recover rear sag. Rubicon springs are rated for 7k. If you are okay with 750 less pounds of towing capacity then you are good. (Honestly not sure who actually gets up in that range anyway.)

Badunit also has a point, you are going to get minimal lift as well especially after settling if that is a primary objective. Might consider the two inch lift from Mopar? I believe that still allows 7k towing.

For absolute ride quality most agree the Mojave is the best but those takeoffs are very rare.

Maybe a spacer lift and level is the way to go....

 

[Supazuk]

I put Rubicon springs with 2 inch spacer and Rubicon shocks in the front and stock Max tow w/ 1 nch spacer in the rear (truck is a max tow and didn't want to change rear spring rate since I bought it to be a truck) **also the rubicon and max tow rear springs have ABOUT (might be a 1/4- 1/2 inch difference) the same ride height**
I don't notice any real change in ride quality

 

[Gvsukids]

I'm being told

By whom?

 

[Smash615]

You know... ”Told" by the geniuses online and AI. It's never wrong. Like Wikipedia.

 

[ChrisNLA]

I'm pretty happy with the ride quality of my Max Tow. My Bilstein 5100 shocks pushed it a little to the firm side, but when I switched from Falken AT3W's to BFG KO3's I gained that difference back since the BFG's are lighter and slightly less heavy duty construction. I may try a different shock (something progressive instead of digressive) but that's about it. I really like the weight carrying ability of the Max Tow springs. It takes a LOT to make the truck squat.

 

[Sandman 4x4]

Unfortunately that's not how tow capacity works. All the airbags will do is help recover rear sag. Rubicon springs are rated for 7k. If you are okay with 750 less pounds of towing capacity then you are good. (Honestly not sure who actually gets up in that range anyway.)

Badunit also has a point, you are going to get minimal lift as well especially after settling if that is a primary objective. Might consider the two inch lift from Mopar? I believe that still allows 7k towing.

For absolute ride quality most agree the Mojave is the best but those takeoffs are very rare.

Actually using air bags in place of the max tow springs will only change your tow/payload rating very little, that only due to the added weight of the bags and all hardware, maybe by 25 lbs at lost, unless you’re adding a n air pump.

 

[Main Line Willys]

I would advise against swapping in Rubicon take offs.
As mentioned above, Rubicons tend to wallow.
I went with Clayton's 1.5 kit with Bilstein 5100's with a greatly improved ride.
I am slightly higher then a stock Mojave.

 

[NC_Overland]

It depends on what rubicon springs you get. You want springs off of a full loaded rubicon with steel bumpers. The heaviest ones have the highest capacity springs. That’s what I did and the payload, towing, and handling are vastly improved. However, I’ve heard of people doing the same thing and not getting much improvement. There are so many different spring rates on gladiators and multiple within the same model.

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